Happy 130th birthday, Eiffel Tower: Laser show for Iron Lady

In this Saturday, March 30, 2019 file photo, a man holds a French flag as French with the Eiffel Tower in the background, during protests in Paris. Paris is wishing the Eiffel Tower a happy birthday with an elaborate laser show retracing the monument’s 130-year history. First, the monument invited 1,300 children to a giant “snack time” Wednesday, May 15 beneath the tower dubbed the Iron Lady. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, file)

Paris is wishing the Eiffel Tower a happy birthday on Wednesday with an elaborate laser show retracing the monument’s 130-year history.

First, the monument invited 1,300 children to a giant “snack time” beneath the tower known as the Iron Lady.

The tower will then broadcast 12-minute laser light shows across the facade starting Wednesday night until Friday that will be visible for free from nearby neighbourhoods. Professional climbers scaled the monument to mount the lights for the unprecedented show.

Around 6 million people go up the tower every year, in addition to the crowds who just come to look at Gustave Eiffel’s creation, designed for the 1889 World’s Fair. It was the world’s tallest monument at the time, and thanks to strict urban planning rules, it still looms large above the Paris skyline.

The Eiffel Tower opened to the public for the first time on May 15, 1889, several days after its inauguration at the World’s Fair.